Kristen Bell Ready to "Bring Joy" as First SAG Awards Host

Kristen Bell

9:58 AM PST 1/17/2018
by
Lexy Perez

“I've sort of come to terms with the fact that I’m not going to please everyone, but I feel confident in that I can bring joy, which I feel like we need a little bit of right now,” the actress told Jimmy Kimmel during her Tuesday appearance on his ABC talk show.

Kristen Bell expressed her excitement over being the first-ever host for the upcoming Screen Actors Guild Awards during a visit to ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday night.

After Kimmel confirmed that Bell was in fact the ceremony’s first host, the actress explained that that was the main reason she wanted to take on the honorary title.

“I thought that’s so cool and, you know, I’m a woman. My genitalia is irrelevant. It’s not the first female host. It's the first host. I thought that was kinda cool," said Bell.

Though she is the ceremony's inaugural host, Bell admits that she won’t be necessarily nervous on the day of the show since she’s aware that she won’t “please everyone” with her jokes and hosting duties.

“I’m nervous right now, in the week leading up to it,” Bell said. "I've sort of come to terms with the fact that I’m not going to please everyone, but I feel confident in that I can bring joy, which I feel like we need a little bit of right now and forward momentum.”

Apart from Bell being the first host for the ceremony, the upcoming SAG Awards will have all-female presenters as well. Bell sees the decision as a “nod to the changing climate” and “a nod to the celebration of women.”

“They say it’s the actors' party in the actors' house and since actors are responsible for it, they feel that some actors have felt unrecognized or marginalized and they wanted to bring those stories to light and give them a forefront,” she explained. “So, they said, ‘Okay, women, you’re having a larger voice now. You’re saying a lot of things. Let’s give you the stage.”'

“We are delighted to have Kristen Bell as the first-ever host of the SAG Awards,” executive producer Kathy Connell, who has produced the awards show since its inception, said at the time. “This has been a year in which assumptions have been challenged, stereotypes have been shattered and precedents have been broken. We decided to capture the cultural mood by casting aside one of our own traditions, and we’re thrilled to have such a talented performer like Bell help us do so.”

The 2018 SAG Awards is set to air on both TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Sunday.